


A Tale of Tourneys and Trials

by Narraboth



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, F/F, no superpowers that would defeat the purpose, the moral of this is that I shouldn't have listened to Lohengrin while thinking about SuperCorp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-09-23 10:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9650864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Narraboth/pseuds/Narraboth
Summary: In which Kara is Lena's champion. Largely inspired by the plot of the upcoming Luthors episode.





	1. Chapter 1

Kara is nineteen at the tourney, freshly knighted, the bright new pride of the House of El, eager to prove herself on the Luthor's domain, to show that the Man of Steel is not the only great warrior of the kingdom of Krypton. But it is hard to outshine Clark: ever honorable but ferocious in battle, he wipes the tourney grounds with fourteen knights without even breaking a sweat before facing - and after a long fight, defeating - the crown prince himself, Lex Luthor. Lex seems to be unshaken by the defeat: he laughs when Clark helps him up from the sand, shakes his hand with a smile and they leave the grounds arm in arm, heading for the dais to watch the rest of the tourney with their parents.

It is there that Kara sees Lena first, while she's preparing for her first joust, and she can hardly take her eyes off the pale, beautiful princess sitting next to Lex, smiling radiantly at her brother. That smile is on Kara's mind when she breaks her first lance, unhorsing her opponent immediately, but her triumph feels almost insignificant compared to the feeling of seeing Lena enthusiastically applaud her; and when she raises her visor and their eyes meet, the princess smiles even more brightly than before.

They are introduced afterwards, at the feast. Kara carries herself with all the confidence of a young knight who, in her very first tourney, managed to defeat eight battle-seasoned warriors, but she still stammers when she asks Lena to a dance, and she feels blush creeping into her cheeks when she takes the princess' hand into hers. But Lena seems endeared rather than annoyed: she's gracious and charming and funny and Kara finally relaxes, and they stay together the entire evening, talking and laughing and dancing together and earning quite a few curious looks, and the following day, Kara enters the lists wearing the princess' favor.

When it's finally time to say goodbye, Lena practically throws herself into Kara's arms.  
"I hope this is not the last time we meet" she whispers, kissing her on the cheek.  
"I hope not either" Kara breathes, painfully aware that her cheeks must be as red as her doublet.

* * *

A mere year after the tourney, Lionel dies and Lex assumes the throne. At first, the Houses of El and Luthor remain friendly and Clark visits the new king's court regularly, but then, slowly, their friendship starts to sour, and finally, another feat of arms needs to take place; bloodier and more lethal. Clark takes no pleasure in going to battle against his former friend - Kara can tell, she's at his side when he finally defeats Luthor -, but it is his duty to protect their kingdom. Lex dies in custody of the triumphant army: the wounds he suffered in battle could not be healed, even by the expert medics of Krypton. A lesser man would take the opportunity to bring his army into the Luthor lands and claim them as his own by the right of the victor, but Clark withholds his troops, only bringing a handful of soldiers with him to return Lex's body to his family. Kara accompanies him to the Luthor castle: it is there that she sees Lena again. While Lillian can keep that cold, poised mask on even over the body of her son, Lena seems half-broken, her eyes red-rimmed, shining with tears. The sight of her so lost and wretched is heartwrenching and Kara wants to console her, but she cannot find the words and she does not dare to reach out to Lena, to pull her into a hug and hold her until it all gets better, not when her armor is still stained with the blood of Luthor soldiers and Lex's blood is still warm on her cousin's hands. She offers her condolences, but the words feel hollow and meaningless, and Kara feels ill when she rides away from the castle with Clark.

She hears that after the funeral, Lillian disappears, and Lena is left alone to bear the weight of her family's sins and to govern a kingdom that's fallen into ruins.

* * *

Lena knows it was coming, she knows that with Lex dead and Lillian gone, the people would need to direct their anger and hatred towards the last remaining Luthor, whether she had a hand in the disastrous events of her brother's reign or not. And so rumors begin to spread about the orphan girl poisoning the mind of the good king Lex, about that strange, pale woman being a witch, an evildoer, enemy, so that someone may finally drown in the flood of all their pent-up fear and rage.

They come for her in the night, dragging her out of her chambers and down to the dungeons. She is left alone for two days, her captors providing her with little food and even less comfort: only in the third morning does their leader finally arrive, a brutish mercenary named Chet Miner, to tell her of her supposed crimes against the Luthors and their kingdom. She can see through him: she knows he used to be one of Lex's henchmen, a savage fighter and a thug, that he's only using this turmoil to assume the throne himself - and she knows she's powerless to stop him, having no friends or allies. He knows it too, telling her mockingly that as a noble, she is entitled to the right of a trial by combat; all she needs to do is name a champion.  
Deep down, she wishes that the Man of Steel had been less gallant and seized their kingdom when he brought Lex home – she would probably have suffered the same fate, but at least it would’ve been at the hands of her brother’s nemesis, not her own subjects.

The trial is set for the next day. When they bring her out to the courtyard, her hands chained, Lena shivers: the morning is cold and her captors have only allowed her a simple white gown. She has to suffer the humiliation of hearing the accusations again, of seeing all the hateful faces staring at her, of hearing scornful laughter and then deep silence when Miner asks if anyone will stand for her in a trial by combat.  
“Looks like you’re all alone, little princess” he murmurs to her, and she cannot stand it any longer: Lena steps forward and draws herself up defiantly.  
“I offer the throne and my hand in marriage to any man who will fight for me” she calls out, trying not to sound and look as desperate as she is; it’s a gamble, hoping that the promise of a kingdom will outweigh their hatred for the Luthors, but judging by the silence that meets her offer, her wager is lost. Miner grins.

“Well, if noone will fight for her...” he begins, but his words are interrupted by a sound of a horn-blow, then hoofbeats and the clamor of armor fills the air and a moment later riders spill into the yard, soldiers wearing the red and blue of Krypton and the crest of the House of El on their chests, led by a knight in gilded armor. Miner springs up from his seat, confused, his hand already on the hilt of his sword.  
“What business do you have here?” he calls out. “This is no matter for Krypton to interfere with.”  
“No matter for Krypton, maybe, but I did not come as my kingdom’s emissary” the knight answers, then reaches under his jaw to unbuckle the strap of the helmet. “I came to fight for Princess Lena.”

Golden locks spill out from underneath the pale steel and Lena’s heart soars, because the face that meets her is not the Man of Steel’s, nor any other self-righteous Kryptonian’s: her knight in shining armor is none other than Kara Zor-El, sweet, beautiful, beloved Kara. Lena can hardly believe her eyes and Miner seems to be struggling to comprehend this turn of events as well, his face darkening.  
"So a Super wants to be a Luthor's champion?" he scoffs, but Kara just glares at him.  
"I fight for what is just" she answers in an icy tone. "If you wish for the trial to take place today, clear the grounds, and I shall be at your disposal."

When Miner walks away, shouting instructions, Kara finally turns to Lena and her face, disdainful and cold before, now softens. She takes off her cape and carefully wraps it around Lena; the gesture simple, kind and entirely unexpected that it almost brings tears to the Luthor's eyes.  
"Why are you doing this?" she whispers. Kara seems to be taken aback by the question.  
"Because it is the right thing to do" she answers simply. "You are no villain, Lena Luthor, and there's no reason for you to suffer the fate of one."  
"You seem to be alone with that opinion" Lena smiles bitterly. Instead of answering, Kara reaches out to take Lena's hands into hers, though the gentleness of the motion is somewhat reduced by the gauntlets covering her hands and the chains around Lena's.  
"I know" she sighs. "Clark didn't want me to come, he could not understand why I would want to protect you. But I know you're not your brother, Lena. I believe in you and I will fight for you, even if I have to stand against the entire world."  
At a complete loss of words, Lena simply reaches up to grab Kara by the shoulder and kisses her with all the desperation of someone who knows that this might be her very last day on earth. It feels wrong to do this now, surrounded by enemies, before a deadly duel, but then Kara kisses her back and wraps her arms around her, and Lena doesn't even mind being pressed against the cold metal of her armor because it feels like time has stopped and nothing matters but Kara's lips on her own.  


But this moment of sweet abandon soon has to cease. The ring is drawn, an annoucement is made, and the opponents kneel to swear before a priest that they will fight honorably, for what they believe to be right and true. Kara is gazing at Lena as she says the words, her eyes shining warmly, full of faith and love.  
Kara doesn’t rush into the fight. She makes a point of evading all of Miner’s attacks, blocking his blows, circling him and striking at him from time to time but keeping him at a distance. Finally, Miner loses his temper and charges at her, tossing his shield aside, but Kara holds her ground: she bashes her shield into him, knocking him off balance and down to the ground, and a heartbeat later she’s standing above him, the tip of her sword and inch away from his visor.

“Yield!” she demands, but Miner does not want to admit defeat and grabs her ankle instead, yanking her legs out from under her; the crowd roars as the Kryptonian hits the ground. Lena’s eyes widen with fear as all hell breaks lose within the ring: Kara and Miner wrestle, the mercenary finally making use of his size and weight, managing to pin the young knight to the ground as she desperately tries to unsheat her dagger. Miner lands a heavy blow on her helmet, and Lena has to hold back a scream: she sees Kara’s body go limp, her arms falling back to her side. _No, no, no, that cannot be, you have to get up!_ she begs as Miner prepares to make another blow, but before he could hit her, Kara raises her right, the dagger finally in her hand, and thrusts the blade into his exposed armpit then draws back and strikes again, with deadly accuracy: the blade slides into Miner’s visor and the man falls forward, lifeless.

Kara gets up slowly and not without some difficulties, but she seems unharmed, and when she takes off her helmet, a triumphant smile is playing on her lips and her eyes are shining as brightly as stars. Lena hears the crowd's murmur and the herald's clarion, feels that someone is finally unlocking the chains on her hand, but she doesn't care: all she sees is Kara marching towards her, beaming. She kneels down when she reaches the dais.  
"My queen" she says, bowing her head.  
"Arise, my knight" Lena commands, and when Kara does so, she reaches out to squeeze her hand and whisper "Thank you."  
As the people hail their new queen, they stand side by side, their fingers intertwined.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back with some more angst and fluff by popular demand, hope it won't disappoint! If you'd like to scream at me about it, you can find me @captain-narraboth on tumblr :)

Everything seems to be working out, as if in a dream: the outcome of the trial is accepted as divine judgement, Lena assumes the throne without any trouble, and Kara, swearing fealty to her, swiftly restores order with her soldiers, clearing the garrison and the Luthor army of the remnants of Lex’s henchmen - the crest of the House of El commands reverence even on the Luthor lands that people accept Kara’s authority without objections and obey her just as they obey Lena.

Someone in her place might be distrustful of how promptly Kara takes charge, but after Lex's madness and the chaos of its aftermath, Lena is grateful to finally have someone she can rely on, someone who is willing to lend a helping hand, someone who is at her side when she needs them. And Kara is always with her, standing behind her throne when Lena holds court, sitting on her right at the feasts, and even sharing her bed at night, holding Lena close so she can nestle in her arms, tracing lines on her back with her fingers and planting a small kiss on her forehead before whispering “Goodnight” and dozing off.

* * *

One evening, they are lying in bed after a long day, Kara's head resting in Lena's lap, Lena's fingers entangled in Kara's hair, playing with the golden locks, when Kara suddenly reaches up to cup Lena's face.  
"I love you" she declares, and Lena’s breath hitches in her chest: though they all but confessed their feelings already, the simplicity and sincerity of it still catches her unawares; it all feels like a dream, almost too good to be true.  
“I love you too” she whispers and bends down to kiss Kara, soft and light, and she can feel the Kryptonian’s lips curling into a smile under hers. “You know” Lena says, drawing back, a playful smile shining on her face. “I did promise my hand to anyone who would fight for me in the trial…”  
"So I’ve heard" Kara nods, almost hurtfully uninterested.  
“For someone who just professed her love, you don’t seem to be very keen on the idea of marrying me” Lena teases, hoping that Kara won’t notice the slight tremor in her voice.  
"I’m not keen on the idea of marrying you to fulfill a promise you made under threat of death" Kara answers, looking very serious, but then a mischievous spark shines in her eyes. “Besides, I'm happy to serve beneath you, as I am now" she says, and Lena laughs and bends down to kiss her again, and all talk of accidentally arranged marriages are forgotten for the night.

* * *

But Lena does not want to let go of the idea entirely, and she cannot imagine anyone more worthy of sharing her life and throne with than Kara Zor-El, not just the valiant knight in shining armor, but the sweet, tender, stalwart friend, unwavering in her love and support. Nevertheless, she plans to breach the subject more carefully, to have an earnest discussion before she would propose anything. But then one day, Kara rolls into the empty throne room freshly back from sparring, with tussled hair and rolled-up sleeves, greeting Lena with a wide smile and a playful “Your majesty” before she grabs and kisses her, Lena’s knees go week and all caution and consideration is thrown out the window.

“Marry me” she breathes when their lips part, wrapping her arms around Kara’s neck. "Not because of the trial and not for the throne. I want to spend my life with you. Marry me, Kara."  
Kara draws back and for a second, Lena panics ( _Too soon, too much, she’s not ready, she doesn’t really love me_ ), but then she looks into Kara’s face and sees that the young knight is honest to God _blushing_.  
“Are you serious?” she asks, incredulous, and when Lena nods, Kara clutches the queen in her arms and spins her around, laughing.  
"Is that a yes?" Lena asks, breathless, when Kara puts her down again, but instead of an answer, her knight just kisses her again.  


* * *

Kara rides to Krypton the following day to inform her family of her engagement, but she's met with much less enthusiasm than she had hoped for. Clark is rather sullen with her: the wounds of Lex’s betrayal are still too fresh for him to comprehend why his cousin would spend over a month with a Luthor, not to mention plan on marrying one. Thus, what starts out as a normal if somewhat stiff conversation quickly develops into a row that the entire eastern wing of the castle is privy to.

“She’s not Lex, Clark, if anything, she’s the opposite! She's kind, she's caring, she'd never hurt a soul...”  
“She’s still a damn Luthor, Kara!” Clark shouts.  
"I'm not marrying her family name! Just because Lex betrayed you doesn't mean Lena is going to do the same to me!" Kara yells back at him, losing her patience. "And can't you see the good this could do for our kingdoms?"  
Clark presses his lips together, only answering her words with a furious glare.  
“I did not come to ask for your blessing, Clark” Kara states. “I'm not a child to be lectured for a mistake, nor am I the heir of the family to need an approval for my choice. I’d love for you to be at my wedding, to be happy for me and to make peace with Lena, but I’m marrying her whether you do that or not.”  
Clark sighs.  
“Well, then, I don’t think we have much left to talk about.”

Lena hardly has to ask about the visit: the look on Kara's face is telling enough when the knight comes back to the Luthor castle. Kara trembles with barely concealed rage for the rest of the day, and Lena feels like she's suffocating, the weight of the Luthor name slowly crushing her. They hug each other a bit more tightly at night, but neither of them can fall asleep, so they lie awake, until Kara finally breaks the silence.  
"You're my world, Lena" she whispers. "And I don't care what anyone says, not even my cousin."  
Lena just nods, unable to speak, and buries her face into Kara's hair, trying to stifle the sobs that are about to escape her lips. 

* * *

But when her wedding day arrives, Lena can hardly stop smiling. Nothing can dampen her elated mood: not the fact that she had to spend her night alone, as customs dictate, missing the safety and warmth of Kara's embrace, or that she cannot see Kara until the ceremony, or that the cloth-of-gold mantle is heavy on her shoulders and her white gown is quite tight-fitting, because in a matter of hours, she shall be married to her beloved knight.

However, a surprise is still waiting for her before the wedding. There are many things Lena has been expecting to happen on her wedding day, from an attack on the castle to waking up to find out she's dreamt all the events of the past months, as she can hardly believe that she is really about to wed the love of her life: being met with a very meek and apologetic Kryptonian prince on her way to the chapel, however, was never on the list. And yet, the Man of Steel is there, in all his royal splendour, and though Clark is unarmed and positively timid rather than threatening, Lena is wary.

“We were not expecting you, Your Highness” she says, greeting him with a curt bow, and Clark nods, looking rather anxious.  
“I know and I'm sorry. I am sure Kara told you of what I said to her..." he glances at her for confirmation, and when Lena, stone-faced, nods, Clark takes a deep breath. "It was out of concern, not malice, but still, it was wrong of me to let my judgement be so clouded by prejudice... And I'd like to right that wrong. So" he says, offering his arm to Lena. "If you'd allow me the honor, Your Majesty?"

When they enter the chapel, Kara is already standing at the altar, dressed appropriately splendidly for the occasion, her blue brocade doublet and heavy red velvet cape bearing the colors of her house, her left hand resting on the hilt of her sword. Lena cannot help but smile, her heart fluttering, and when she glances at Clark's face, she sees the Kryptonian's eyes shining with pride. Kara has been beaming as well ever since she saw Lena appear, but when she recognizes the tall man leading her bride to the altar, her eyes widen with surprise, and the smile on her face grows even more radiant.

They cannot take their eyes off of each other during the ceremony. When they kneel down before the altar, Lena reaches out to take Kara's hand, and though they are not supposed to join hands until the exchange of the wedding bands, she couldn't care less: all that matters is the fact that Kara is kneeling next to her, their fingers entwined, that Kara's face is turned towards her and the glow of her eyes could rival the brightness of Rao's light. They are so enraptured, so lost in each other, that they hardly even hear when the priest begins reciting the blessings and he ends up having to repeat the call for the exchange of the wedding bands and vows before they manage to slip the rings around each other's fingers.

"I adore you."  
"I rejoice in you."  
"You are my hope."  
"You are my light."  
"You are my life."  
"May the countenance of Rao ever shine on you" the priest concedes. "Rise and kiss your new spouse."  
Kara is the first to rise, lifting Lena from the ground with ease, and steps forward to draw the veil from Lena's face.  
"I love you" she whispers before she leans in and their lips touch and they lose themselves in the kiss, their bodies melting together, Kara's arms around Lena's waist and Lena's hands in Kara's hair, and they don't even care for the defeaning applause that fills the hall around them.


End file.
